


Here Spirits Lie

by LittleDoot



Series: Spirits [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Gen, Hatake Kakashi Has Issues, Hatake Kakashi-centric, Nothing but sad here, Sad, the Big Sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28390902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDoot/pseuds/LittleDoot
Summary: spirits were real and Sakumo was one follow Kakashi as it all goes wrong(there will eventually be a sequel it is as yet unnamed)Updates bi-weekly
Series: Spirits [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155122
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	1. First death The Father

Hatake Sakumo was many things: a father, a husband, The Shiroi Kiba (White Fang), a shinobi, a killer, a defender but a man was not among them. Hatake Sakumo was an ōkami, staying with his wife for a time to repay her for saving him when he was wandering and eventually bonding and forming a contract to stay in her plane as long as she was still there.

The problem came when his beautiful wife died so soon after the birth of their son, a half spirit they named Kakashi, and his contract was over. Belief and love of him made it easier to stay, easier to pretend that his tether to this plane wasn’t gone and he was slowly ‘dying’ returning to the spirit plane from which he came.

Then the mission happened.

He was dying anyway and soon he would have to tell his son about the true nature of what they both were as spirit and half spirit, what it means to them and what they can do. So instead of finishing a doomed mission that had wrong information and was impossible from the start he sent his team back alive and in one piece.

War broke out soon after.

They blamed him.

They blamed his son, who would barely look at him probably in disgust, but he hadn’t failed. Had he? ~~He had. He had~~

The looks continue the whispering grows louder. It’s getting harder to stay. 

Glares from people who’ve lost family and blame him. It’s no longer whispers it’s jeers and insults thrown at his feet like one action can cause all this. Like one abandoned mission so his team survives is the worst thing he could have possibly done. In a village that claims to prize it’s people and teamwork above all else it seems wrong and almost obscene.

The day the property wall is defaced is the worst. It’s when he knows his time is running out.

It’s not so much a tug as a yank on his chest. Holding a hand in his line of vision his paw is overlaid.

Soon he will be leaving whether he likes it or not.

He needs to find his son. In case he can’t he’ll tell his wives dogs so they can tell him what he can’t.

He thought he would have more time than this. He hoped he would have more time than this.

He doesn’t find his son but the dogs know what he needs to be told. He would leave a note explaining everything but someone’s been following him and he doesn’t trust them. Their spirit has been damped to non-existent no one should live like that. The only note he leaves his son is that he’s going to be gone for a while but the dogs can find him so he should ask them to get him.

He walks off into the woods so no one can find his body.

He doesn’t make it that far.

* * *

  
  


Kakashi loves his ~~chichi~~ tou-san. He loves him so much it feels like he could burst, but the village keeps taking him away for missions. So if he can just be a really good shinobi maybe, just maybe, he can go with ~~Chichi~~ Tou-san when he leaves.

Maybe one day they won’t have to be apart so much. Maybe one day he can go where ~~Chichi~~ Tou-san goes when he goes. Maybe, _maybe_ one day he can stay with his ~~_pack_~~ family _._ When he gets home he’ll ask him. He should be back from that mission today.

Walking to the house is when he hears them. _The whispers._ they creep and crawl up his spine and in his ears.

 _“Did you hear? The_ Shiroi Kiba _failed a mission. It was deliberate too. It’s why we’re at war now.”_

_“Disgraceful. How could we have raised one like him. I hope he understands just what he’s done”_

_“We’re at war now. It’s all that Hatake’s fault. If only he could be a good little shinobi and do his damn job properly we wouldn’t have to deal with this.”_

_“I’m being sent to the front soon. I hope that Hatake-san knows that if Kuroi or I die I’m blaming him.”_

_“Look it’s the son little Hatake-kun doesn’t even know that his_ **_‘tou-san’_ ** _is worthless. I honestly hope that he doesn’t last the year. The bastard.”_

He does the only thing he can think of. The boy _runs_ racing down streets and alleys taking every shortcut he knows just to get back home _faster_ to reach the warm safe embrace of his ~~chichi~~ tou-san.

He bolts into the house running up to his chichi, no tou-san it’s tou-san shinobi aren't sentimental, and hugging him ~~with all his might~~ to welcome him home. He steps back and looks him in the eye. That’s when he sees it.

He’s back. But he’s not _back._

The rumors are true aren’t that. The whispers, they weren’t lies. No that can’t be right, chichi tou-san is a great shinobi surely he can’t have done what they’re accusing him of. _Right?_ ~~**_Please, PLEASE!_ ** ~~

“Tou-san.” no reaction

“Tou-san!” still nothing. It’s as if he’s deaf. Or just not here. ~~Please _stay, please._ ~~

“Chichi?” his head snaps around at that looking his son in the eyes. There’s life in them still. ~~Please let it stay.~~

“What’s up cub? How was your day?” his tone is soft and gentle to anyone else but Kakashi knows. Kakashi can hear the strain in his voice, can smell the worry in his scent.

“My day was fine tou-san how was yours? I heard them talking about your mission. Was anything they said true? ~~Are you really the reason the war started?~~ ” he knows it’s not true one man can’t start a war like that any anyone who believes that it could is stupid and doesn’t count.

“It depends what you heard Kakashi-kun. I put my team above the mission so it was failed but everyone got back alive. I would say that it was worth it.” that’s fine at least to-

“Plus one man can’t start a war.” that. That reeks of a lie. He believes the whispers.

 ~~Chichi~~ **Tou-san believes the** **_Whispers._ **

“You’re wrong.” he tells him hoping he’ll realise he saw through the lie.

He didn’t.

It gets worse.

It starts with just whispers of ~~Chichi~~ Tou-san but soon they look sideways at him whispering about how he’ll _“turn out like his tou-san. Oh it would be such a shame he was such a good kid”_. Glares and slightly raised prices come next and he watches as his father slowly turns into himself. Blaming and blaming and blaming until there is nothing left of Hatake Sakumo but forced smiles and small kindnesses. He looks worse as well like he’s just holding onto his life. Always tired and always clinging onto something. It’s becoming painful to see him like this.

So he doesn’t.

Days spent training so he doesn’t have to see his father tear himself apart to please people who don’t deserve him. So he doesn’t have to watch as each day a little more is lost. ~~So he doesn’t have to watch him go.~~

Kakashi comes home from a day of training to find the wall of the compound defaced but half of it cleaned off so he heads inside to look for and hug his chichi, he needs all the comfort he can get. The house is dead quiet.

The house is never this quiet.

There’s a note on the table.

‘Don’t worry about me pup.

I’ll be gone for a while but check with Pakkun,

he knows where to find me.

-the best Your Chichi’

That would be reassuring if the stench of death did not waft through the house from the study. If Kakashi knows anything about his chichi it’s that even if he were to end it here he wouldn’t leave a note like that just to die in the house. Something’s wrong very, very wrong. The smell of death is strongest in the study so that’s where he goes.

The door is slightly open. There’s a sliver of silver soaked with red visible through the crack. There is only one person that can be.

Kakashi grieves in the blood of a father whom he knows was killed.

As the boy freezes and cries beside the body he doesn’t realise that he is no longer a child but a true wolf cub ethereal lighting cloaking his fur as his screams are howls to the heavens.

That night Konoha hears wolves howl to the moon in loss and none know why as all they see beside the corpse of the father is that of the son. The child with a shock of silver hair, sharp teeth and a sharper smell. No wolves so why the howl.


	2. Second Death The Friend

Kakashi and his team have been given an important mission, all they need to do is destroy Kannabi bridge, it will change the course of the war shortening it because Iwa’s supply line will be cut off.

It’s also important for two other reasons. Kakashi is a jonin now and this will be his first time leading his team without Minato-sensei.

More importantly.

Something feels wrong and the last time that happened was seven year ago when Otou-sama died. It means something is going to go horribly irrevocably wrong.

He was right. Why is he always right.

Staring out on their mission Rin hands him a medical pouch stocked with first aid equipment that she obviously made and put together herself. But it’s useful and that’s all that really matters.

Obito has nothing for him but brushes it off.

The start if the mission is smooth but the feeling doesn’t leave it just gets worse and worse and _worse_. 

They continue on into enemy territory as a newly minted jōnin this is the first mission Kakashi is officially in charge of and eventually Minato leaves them to go and help in the front lines.

Walking further Kakashi halts his squad narrowly avoiding a spike trap. Wary looking around for any enemy nin that could be lying in wait.

On the other side of the clearing a man with blades attached to his arms springs from the bamboo and Kakashi rushes to engage him.

They go flying through the air matching blow for blow in a flurry of moves all faster than the last as they try to outpace their opponent.

Steel meets steel again and again as neither get the upper hand and sharpened bamboo shoots fire at the two remaining squad members Obito just barely catching them in a large fire jutsu and burning them to a crisp.

That’s when it happens.

A man materializes out of thin air knocking Rin unconscious and leaving.

His partner disengages Kakashi and joins him gloating about the secrets and information they'll get out of her before they disappear into the shoots.

Kakashi turns around back to the direction of the bridge leaving Rin to her fate.

“The two of us will continue the mission” he states 

“But Rin… What about Rin!?”

An argument breaks out with Obito arguing for Rin’s retrieval. Calling emotion and responsibility of friendship. Kakashi fires back tonelessly with rules and facts. Until Obito brings up how they owe Rin for patching them up whenever they were hurt and Kakashi replies simply.

“That was Rin’s duty”

Obito lands a right hook on Kakashi’s face throwing him backwards and to the ground. Where his only action is to sit up as Obito yells

“I don’t like you after all!”

“I don’t care. I’m the captain. You _will_ obey me. Whatever the situation, in order to keep the team together, one person gives the orders. That’s why we have the rule that states that members must obey the team captain. Obito, you’re not strong. That is why I was chosen as captain of this team.”

Obito reaches down and grabs him by the strap across his chest hauling him to his feet.

“Then why won’t you try to save Rin?! As captain, you’re strong. Strong enough to save your comrades, right?!”

Kakashi’s eyes look dead.

“If you give in to your emotions even for a moment and fail your mission, you will regret it later. That is why our code of conduct forbids any emotional feelings. You should know that.”

Obito continues to forcibly make Kakashi relent citing the medical pack as a gift to show she cared. Kakashi just replies that it helps in missions and is therefore standard and useful. That useful things are all that should matter to a ninja and as such emotions are useless and unnecessary.

“Are you serious…?! Do you seriously believe that?!”

Kakashi looks away images of his otou-sama flashing through his mind. In his eyes you can see that he doesn’t believe it but he wants to. Closing his eyes he returns Obito’s gaze. 

“Yeah… I do...” he’s lying.

Obito looks somewhere between angry and disgusted. Finally letting go of Kakashi’s strap he tells him to forget it and informs him that with or without him he is saving Rin.

Obito turns and starts to leave, but not before telling Kakashi one final thing.

“I believe that the Shiroi Kiba was a true hero…”

It’s the first time since his death ~~murder~~ that anyone has told him that and Obito continues.

“Sure in the world of ninja, those who break the rules and regulations are regarded as scum… but.. Those who abandon their comrades… are worse than scum! I’m gonna be trash anyway, so I choose to break the rules. And if that doesn’t make me a true ninja… then I’ll crush this co-called ‘ninja’!!”

Kakashi doesn’t get far away before the words of Obito, Rin and Minato ring in his head. Getting up thinking about all the times his team has helped him and supported him he turns and sprints to his teammates. Praying that he makes it in time. ~~He will, he has to.~~

He arrives just in time to save Oibto from a strike by the invisible iwa-nin. The nin disappears from his senses soon after landing a blow on his left eye blinding him. The iwa-nin goes for the easier of the two opponents but the near loss of a team mate as Kakashi took the hit has awakened the red of his eyes and he manages to block the blow killing the man.

Running to the cave that Rin is held in presumably by the other ninja they enter to see Rin on the far side with the last nin guarding her. In a dual move they take him out.

As Kakashi breaks the genjutsu on Rin it all goes wrong.

The ninja on the other side of the cave that _should_ have been out cold was awake.

He was weaving signs and smiling too.

Slamming his hand on the floor of the cave the entire structure begins to tremble. The hairs on the back of Kakashi's neck rise. Something is wrong.

They grab Rin and stumble to their feet making a break for the entrance of the cave.

A stray rock impacts Kakashi's head concussing him, knocking him out and prone. Just as a large chunk if the roof falls on his position.

Obito is the only one close enough to him. He runs back Kakashi, throwing him clear of the rocks. He’s just in time to save Kakashi but just too late to save himself. All he can do is look up to his impending death falling towards him.

Obito takes his place as a sacrifice on the tomb of stone.

Kakashi got up calling the names of his teammates. Rin answers but when Obito calls out Kakashi stills and turns still in the ruins of the cave trapped as it has now become a mound of stone and grave of a friend.

Under the earth half crushed in what must be excruciating pain lies Obito.

But all he does is smile.

Kakashi begins to break down. Blaming himself for all the things that went wrong for all of the could haves and what ifs swearing over and over again in a desperate attempt to prove that this isn’t the reality that he lives in that it’s just some form of nightmare.

He isn’t that lucky. ~~He never will be.~~

None of it mattered. Not his skill, not that he was captain, not that he was even jōnin. He should have known better. But the comment of jōnin reminds Obito of something that shouldn’t even be important anymore.

"Oh yeah…I had forgotten..."

Rin looks up at his strained words

“I was the only one who…didn’t give you a gift…for becoming a jōnin, Kakashi.”

This time it’s Kakashi who stares in surprise, a small gasp escaping him.

“I was...wondering what to give you…and I just had a thought.”

Kakashi is staring on in horror, sadness mixed with his expression. Rin still hasn’t moved, tears streaming down her face.

For the first time in years Kakashi looks like a child again. Only he’s broken inside. Obito continues regardless in his tomb under the earth.

“Don’t worry…it’s not some useless, extra baggage…”

Obito at last opens his eye sharingan still active and looks Kakashi dead in the eye.

“I’m giving you…my sharingan. Whatever the village might say you are...a great jōnin. That’s how i really feel...”

“So please accept it.”

Kakashi’s form is flickering between wolf and person. There are no tears yet, just shock and fear as Obito begins to gouge out his own eye but Rin steps in before he does any damage.

She stalls before turning to Kakashi grabbing his shoulder. It grounds him enough for his form to stabilize. That's when Obito pipes up again.

"Man. I must be in really bad shape." He laughs and it shutters into a bloody cough.

"I mean Bakashi it looked like you were a wolf there for a bit" a second wetter laugh racks his body.

Kakashi makes a keening sound that no human can make before answering in the wrong register almost as if his voice box is wrong but he's using it anyway.

"Close... it's a wolf spirit, ōkami, Tou-san was one"

Rin looks at him, clearly he's going to have to explain something soon. It doesn't matter though he won't be able to hold this form for long. It feels like his soul is trying to escape.

Rin finished placing the spinning red and black of the sharingan into Kakashi's eye socket.

The eye fades to Kakashi's natural silver.

He murmurs a saying his otou-sama used to say.

"A gift freely given is the only one truly yours to keep."

Trapped in a collapsed cave probably surrounded by enemies. They won't make it out on the condition they are now. God. Fuck. Just. Why? Whywhywhywhywhy? They’re all going to die here and it’s all his _FUCKING FAULT._

Right before he collapses succumbing to the pain of staying human he thinks of Sensei and the kunai he gave him as a gift. Sensei could fix this mess because he sure as hell can’t that’s twice now he’s fucked up this whole caring business. His form finally flickers for the last time as a small wolf cub lies beside Rin crying over the death of lost pack. Chakra fluctuating in not distress but despair.

It doesn't notice the flash of gold that appears. Already slipping into unawareness as the pain of loss overrides everything else.

* * *

Rin looks back in shock on her downed teammate crushed under the stones of the cave, lying where they were just a moment ago. Kakashi raising his head from the floor. She follows Kakashi when he runs over to Obito’s side collapsing to the ground and slamming his fists against it.

It’s a funny scene. It really is. The stubborn stuck up teammate with absolute manners and no emotion having what amounts to a temper tantrum on the floor of a cave.

Really it’s hilarious. So _fucking funny_ really.

Look at him blaming himself when clearly it’s her fault. She’s the one that got kidnapped.

But none of that matters now. Their teammate is dying if he isn’t already dead.

Her composure holds even when he talks only because she’s shut down. That’s when it happens though. When she is so close to losing herself within her own mind and the torment it creates from the dying words of her best friend she sees Kakashi’s form flicker in what looks to be a painful wrench almost as if he is being pulled out of himself.

There‘s something wrong about that but it can be dealt with later. Now she has a heavily injured teammate and one that’s about to have a mental break or astral project, it's hard to tell what, they need med-nin Rin not their soft friend.

Just as she pulls her med-nin composure around herself like a cloak to block out everything else Obito begins to remove his own eye. Training kicking in before she can think about what she’s doing she stops him and completes the transplant. Still not entirely sure what’s happening as she vaguely listens to Kakashi explain that he is apparently part spirit, which she will be getting the story of later. He murmurs something as the eye fades to his natural gunmetal silver and his form shifts to that of a small wolf cub violently.

Still stunned by this display she is completely unprepared for the flash of gold that comes. Condensing into the form of their worried sensei all she can do is stare at him, but it’s almost too late as they hear a shout go up from outside. It seems that they figured out that they lived.

Minato looks confused and concerned at the wolf amongst them but Rin waves him off quickly.

“It’s Kakashi I’m making him explain later”

He nods and takes this as it is turning his attention to the outside of the rock pile.

She rests her head back on the stone. Either they get out of here and Kakashi can tell them what’s going on with him or it’s here that they will die. It’s all in Minato sensei’s hands now but she trusts him.

They’ll be fine. She just needs to wait.

* * *

Minato doesn’t like separating from his kids. Just because he is no longer in charge of them as jōnin-sensei doesn’t mean that they aren't still his kids god damn it. And No Mikoto I am not mother-henning them.

Anyway.

Quick as he can Minato races to the front. When he arrives he gets an update on their status. Their forces are outnumbered almost two to one and they are getting bombarded with explosives as they hide in the trenches. No man’s land is filled with corpses both friendly and non all in various states. Lucky ones are either eviscerated to puddles of gore or killed with the surgical precision usually associated with ninja. Unlucky ones lie there with broken bones jabbing out flesh and cloth or missing parts of their body like a macabre art piece. There are no moans or cries from the field so it’s been some time from the last head on assault.

With them down to around fifty men and running out of supplies it’s not really surprising. This needs to end soon.

That at least he can do. Minato isn’t known as the Kiiroi Senkō (yellow flash) for nothing. And it doesn’t help that he’s worked with worse odds.

It’s all prepared and he hands out his special kunai to the troop with the instructions to throw a volley on his call.

It works like a charm.

Flashing from person to person slitting throats, stabbing hears and throwing more kunai to other enemies all of them are wiped out in one fell swoop and he heads back to the celebration of the Konoha front.

As he begins to worry about his kids but reasons to himself that they did a pretty good job of distraction so they should be fine he feels a tug oh one of his markers.

That can only be one person.

Kakashi.

And what’s worse it means he’s in trouble. Trouble he shouldn’t be in.

Quickly asking leave of the commanding officer on the front, it would be more accurate to say stating his intentions, Minato flashes to the marker with his students.

It’s worse than he thought it could ever be.

Kakashi is nowhere in sight, Obito appeared to already be dead and Rin was despondent sitting in the cleared space.

Lying in clearing with them is a small wolf pup. It’s completely unconscious but it could be dangerous. He has no idea how it could have gotten here or why his team haven’t done anything about it. Just as he is reading himself to dispose of it Rin jars him from his thoughts. Apparently the wolf is Kakashi which all of them need an explanation to soon, preferably when they make it out of this mess. Obito looks to be already dead so he just needs to deal with the Iwa-nin. The bridge is gone already or it will be soon so he just needs to get his kids out of here.

He asks Rin to look after Kakashi and follow him as fast as she can while they carve their way out of the reinforcements. Carrying an unconscious Kakashi ducking and diving from attacks and using smoke screens to disengage as they make a break for a safe place to stop. They find a glade far enough away for it to be safe and settle down waiting for Kakashi to wake up as the small cub lies there nuzzling into the warmth of whoever sits next to him.

* * *

Kakashi awakens to something warm resting by him as he flicks his ears. _Oh_ he thinks to himself _I’m still in this form_. Opening his eyes he sees Sensei leaning on the tree next to him. The first thing that comes out of his mouth before Kakashi can do anything is.

“It’s not your fault you did the best you could. I should have been there for you… all of you. I’m so sorry Kakashi”

“Where’s Rin?”

Both of them are startled at that. Kakashi because he didn’t even mean to speak and Minato because his student just talked to him whilst looking like a wolf. He supposes it must work like ninja animals.

“Rin told me I’ll call her over then you can tell us all about this. Okay?”

“Okay”

And so that’s what happens Kakashi tells them what he knows and shows them some of what he can do. He shows them how Obito’s eye acts as if it was always his and they agree that he should cover the eye to keep appearances and they go back to Konoha.

The Uchiha call for his blood or at least to give them the eye back but Fugaku wants to honor the sacrifice of his clansman and decrees that Kakashi can keep it. The whispers begin to pick up around him. Some are calling him cold hearted.

He’ll live. He always does. Now he has people who know who and what he is and he just needs to cover his left eye.

He’s fine. He. Will. Be. Fine. ~~He won’t he never is.~~


	3. Third death The Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Rin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The parts that have been replaced with boxes are still saved. they will probably be put into an omake at a later date because they are written

Just a year later if even that the next one happens. Rin was near inconsolable after Obito’s death. She threw herself into healing and her work at the hospital and Kakashi into missions and keeping her safe to honor the promise of a dead friend. Sometimes Kakashi could be found at the memorial but it was unusual as friends and family challenged him and invited him to eat with him when they have free time. It’s almost like they don’t trust him but it’s fine Kakashi doesn’t trust him either. On a happier note Minato-sensei is hokage and the war is winding down so it should be safer but these are the times when enemy combatants get desperate so the village is still on high alert.

It’s Kakashi’s day off. He just got back from a week-long mission and he is shattered so, so very tired. Flopping down onto his bed after giving the report into the chūnin at the desk he’s ready to sleep for hours or maybe days. And so he does.

He startles awake, it's nearing twilight and a bone deep terror has settled in him. The origin of the feeling is coming from outside of the village but surely everyone’s safe inside the walls. Right?

Dashing out of his apartment he makes his way to the hospital where Rin's usual shift isn’t over yet. Ducking in through the window of her office it’s empty so he heads back out and to the reception and asks the woman at the desk if she knows where Rin is.

“Oh Rin dear she’s out on a supply run in the forest to the south of here it’s not that far just a mile out or so she’s due back tonight. Don’t worry dear she’ll be fine.”

Giving a terse nod Kakashi turns and heads out the door but as soon as sight breaks sprints back home and collects his gear leaving a message for whoever looks for him of what he’s doing.

With that done he sprints out of the village in the direction of the feeling. The feeling that’s steadily getting worse and worse at an alarming rate. The issue is that if Kakashi pushed any harder then he would be useless when he arrived, so he keeps pace and hopes  prays that he’ll make it in time.

He dashes into a clearing as Rin stumbles through the trees on the other side. She’s dirty scratched and in a mess her eyes are wild and unfocussed. It’s like a cornered rabbit in desperate need of escape ready and willing to tear down anything in its way. She seems to get her bearings slightly looking in the direction of Konoha only to turn away from it but still continues in the direction. Like a puppet whose strings are being yanked. From behind in the trees shouts rose. Before stopping to think, Kakashi leaps to her defense as both he and Rin are surrounded by Kiri-nin.

They were making it out of this.  ~~ They had to . ~~

* * *

Rin hummed as she picked the herbs they needed. The war was winding down and they were rather near Konoha so she should be rather safe. The group she was with was made of a reasonable number of people; there were five other chūnin spread around the area with one Jōnin in case anything went wrong. But again nothing should happen. They were close to home and safe. Even if something did happen they were close enough that they should be able to run to Konoha before anyone got injured too badly.

It was getting close to night when it happened. The group had just finished gathering the herbs and were getting ready to head home. As Rin headed towards the meet point when she heard a scuffle. It wasn’t loud as shinobi it ever is but it is enough to worry her because there  _ shouldn’t _ be a scuffle they should be safe. Looking through the trees she sees that it’s just some of the other chūnins having a bit of a spat. The jōnin looks like they’re considering separating them but is enjoying the little bit of entertainment they are providing while they wait for the others to arrive.

The jōnin turned to look at her as she entered the clearing. He smiled and asked her to ignore the idiots having a go at each other and take a seat while they wait for the others to show up.

The others don’t come. As soon as she turns past them they knock her out. Later the bodies of those three shinobi will be found by the rest of the group. The meet point had been changed.

Ron's memory comes in snippets each making more horrifying sense than the last.

Weird white beings carry her through a forest. Why do they want her? What are they going to do?

A cave ~~no no _no not a cave._~~ An urn in the corner, it has seals covering it. The white things look like they're preparing for something. What could it be?

She's restrained. Why is she restrained? Something cold and smooth touches her. She looks down.

She's covered in seals.

At least one is a compulsion.

The creatures still haven't stopped smiling.

* * *

Kiri is in chaos. Someone has stolen their bijū. Damn thing was in an urn. A  **guarded** urn. Why would anyone even steal the sanbi? It breaks the very first treaty. The one that no matter how bad it gets no one is willing to break, not even Kumo, because it means all of the other major villages will target you alliances be damned.

Some chūnin brings in a report that Konoha nin were seen near the village. Hunter squads are sent in the direction that they were reported from.

None realize that the chūnin was not one of their own.

* * *

She **must** reach  **Konoha.**

She's running. Something's wrong and she's running. A twig snaps behind her and she runs faster.

She  **must** get  **home** . When she gets  **home** she can  **rest.**

Who is she? She's someone. But who?

Something's wrong but she hears shouts so she stops thinking and runs harder.

* * *

■■’■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■■■ ■■■  _ ■■■■■■■■■■  _ **_■■■■■■ ■■■■■■_ ** ■■■  _ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■, _ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■, ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ (■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■) ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■? ■■■■  _ ■■■? _

■■■■■■.

■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■, ■■■■, ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■'■ a lotta weird. ■■'■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■'■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■. ■■■■'■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■, ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■'■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■?

■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■, ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■  _ ■■■■■  _ ■■■■■■■ ■■  _ ■■ _ . ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■'■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■'■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■'■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. 

■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■, ■■'■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■, ■■■■■■- _ ■■■■ _ , ■■ ■■■ ■■■, ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■'■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■'■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■.

* * *

She bursts through the trees and into a clearing turning to get her bearings so she can go to Konoha home. But why? That's the thing that's wrong it's her she's dangerous she must not go to Konoha she can't. She turns away but walks towards anyway unwilling and desperate but unable to stop. A boy with silver hair comes forth protecting her from the pursuers doesn't he see she's a danger to him. Who is he? he seems familiar but she doesn't know. She should know. Who is she?

The boy cuts down her pursuers with knife and jutsu before an electric chirp fills the air bringing with it memories.

Kakashi. And she's Rin. She can’t go home because something of great power was sealed in her but it's unstable. She's a time bomb and while he protects her Kakashi is at a disadvantage. If she weren't there he could fight better. If she were gone the village would be safe. Decision made she moves as Kakashi goes to impale an enemy nin with chidori it strikes her through the heart. Damn it hurts more than she thought it would but she's going numb now. As a last show of compassion even as she coughs blood down her front she reaches out to caress his face. Hoping she can tell him it's not his fault. She barely gets out his name. He looks so broken.

Oh God. What has she done?!?

No no!

It all fades... she waits by a campfire, her only company her regrets and a man with silver hair in a ponytail. He looks almost like Kakashi, she thinks. His name is Sakumo.

* * *

There’s no time to think he just has to act. Backup is too far out to get there in time, Rin is out of commission, he isn’t fully equipped for this, he’s running on low sleep and exhausted from running all the way here and worst of all he’s so low on chakra that it’s going to be touch and go throughout the entire fight.

He jumps into combat, kunai flying and sharingan looking for any weakness that can be exploited. A stab, a dodge, a spin, keep them in sightlines, a knee to the groin and one of them goes down the friend that looks for a moment at his comrade gets a shattered kneecap for his inattention. The retaliatory swing misses by a hair and catches another nin as he lunges for the space that Kakashi used to be. The commitment to the attack means they can’t dodge in time. They gain a slash on their upper arm, their grip loosens as one of the tendons for their fingers is severed. A thrown kunai guarantees that the downed one won’t be getting back up again. A fire jutsu burns the other injured, almost out of breath and only three are down. This needs to be finished quickly. This might just work, he has enough space and they might not expect it. It’s the only choice. He grips his wrist to stabilize his hand; this doesn’t need any hand signs.  _ Chidori  _ he thinks to himself.

He lunges. It’s now or never.

Impact. A hand coated in lightning, an arm coated in blood, the burst remains of a heart on the ground, a charred hole where the voltage overloaded the muscle causing it to explode.

The wrong person standing in front of him.

Rin. no.  _ why? _ ~~_ `How could you leave me? _ ` ~~

"Ka… ka… shi." Wet sodden coughs erupt from her small frame as she reaches forward before falling limp and lifeless on his arm.

Rin was dead.

_ Deaddeaddead. _

And so was his last promise to a dead friend.

Then the pain came.

Like a rusty knife scraping across all his nerves pain flares up all across his body. Unbearable and unimaginable in its intensity. It felt like his soul was dying being torn out of its container to never be seen again. (He was right, his spirit half was dying with one of the people it had bonded to. He only lives because his mother was human.)

He screams a raw wretched sound torn from his throat that morphs into a wolf's cry as his form is wracked with spasms in the pain. He slams into the ground no trace of the boy that he should be falling unconscious from the pain. Unmoving and dead to the world. Surrounded by enemies but the older ones understand what just happened and stop the younger from finishing the job. Whispers of spirits travel through the group and they leave before a spirit's wrath can be brought upon them. They disappear into the trees and are never seen again.

* * *

■■■■■■■■ (■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■) ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■■.

■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■, ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■

“■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■! ■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■!” ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■’■ ■■■■ ■■■■  ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■. ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■. ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■.

■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■■■■■, ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■. ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■, ■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■, ■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■.

Kakashi had killed Rin. Kakashi promised he would keep Rin safe.

■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■. ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■.

■■■■■’■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■'■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■’■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■, ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■. ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■.

* * *

Minato was having an okay day. His shadow clones had helped him finish his paperwork and Kakashi had arrived back so he was just waiting on Rin to get back from the supply run the remaining kids would be safe in Konoha’s walls.

He was just swinging past Kakashi’s apartment to ask if he wanted to join him and Kushina for dinner when it started going wrong.

There was a note on Kakashi’s table and his things were ever so slightly out of order. Kakashi had thought something was wrong and went to go help Rin. Usually with any other person this would have been passed off as overprotective paranoia but Kakashi was almost always right and the times that he was wrong it turned out that someone else had solved the situation before they got there, not that the situation hadn’t happened in the first place.

So Minato did the only thing he could. He looked for the markers that he made his students carry. Both of them were out of range but he knew the direction that Rin had gone on her mission so he headed out of Konoha at top speed in that direction.

It didn’t take long for a tag to come in range so he sped flashing to the tag.

The scene was worse than he thought. The ground was a mess of broken stones like it had tried to ripple but broke because it was no liquid. The jagged edges of protruding rock covered the clearing hiding a lot of things from view but not the bodies of three Kiri shinobi.

Or the bodies of his students.

Kakashi was clearly not okay. His form was solid but he had lost a bit of the weird presence he had and looked in great pain despite the ace that he had very few injuries aside from what must be exhaustion. One arm was covered in blood long since dried but his hand was suspiciously clean.

And Rin. Oh Rin

There’s a hole in her chest and her heart is lying a distance away with a hole burnt through the center. He gathers his kids and returns home.

Kakashi has got a new Title by the time he wakes up.

Friend Killer Kakashi.


	4. Fourth and Fifth deaths The Guardians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a long chapter here. it's meant to be part of a double update but these were giving me some difficulty so it'll appear at some point :S. Enjoy!

It seems that Kakashi has gone the same way as his tou-san, if not worse, from the way the whispers go ‘round the village. 

_ “But then again”  _ the whispers go _ “he should have expected this. I mean just look at his tou-san.” _

_ “He’s so cold does he even have a heart?” _

_ “I haven’t seen him recently. Think he turned missing-nin? It wouldn’t surprise me.” _

_ “You’re right. Well good riddance to him. I hope he’s never seen again.” _

And on and on they go. Until one of two people come near those two are one Uzumaki Kushina and one Namikaze Minato, the hokage and the boys sensei. None of them knew that the boy could hear them. None of them knew that the boy was now Hound and still protected them even as he was trying desperately to not fall apart and hold onto all that he had left. The death had barely been a week ago.

* * *

Minato calls Kakashi to his office soon after Rin’s funeral. The boy is a wreck, you wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t know him but he was looking worse than Minato had ever seen him. He reacted and moved according to what he should do but he wasn’t there at all. It was just a doll that moved to the tune of shinobi life and not Kakashi. Minato knew he would be forced into so many different dangerous situations if he stayed in the public eye as he was now. It hadn’t even been a day before the rumors started flying around about how Kakashi had engineered the death of both his teammates and that if you ever ended up on a team with him you would be next. Kakashi wasn’t present enough for the rumors to affect him yet but Minato wanted him out of sight before they could. The safest place he could think to put him was on Kushina’s guard but he needed to be an ANBU for that so when his student enters he goes straight to business.

“Kakashi I want to put you forward for promotion to ANBU. Your entrance test will be held soon and your examiner will come to collect you when they are ready. Do you understand and accept this promotion? You can refuse it.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama. It is an honor to serve and I will do so to the best of my ability for as long as I live. My life belongs to the village.” Kakashi says with a short bow.

Minato frowns, he has continuously told Kakashi to call him Minato or sensei and usually he does. Minato won’t push it today though, or at least not now.

“Remember to come for dinner today Kakashi. Kushina and I’ll be waiting. Have a good day kid.” and with that he turned back to his paperwork. He still has no idea why Sarutobi-sama had so much trouble with this, the Nidaime made shadow clones for a reason.

No one sees Tobirama looking proud of the current Hokage. After all none of them are so closely related to spirits anymore aside from the Hatake but he was never taught to see the other plane. A snow leopard trots out of the Hokage’s office leaving Minato and his guard alone.

* * *

Kakashi leaves Minato’s office still numb but slowly thawing. He walks through the streets to the whispers and stares heading straight for the memorial stone where Rin’s name has joined Obito’s. The area is avoided by most both because they know that it is one of Kakashi’s usual haunts and because usually those that they mourn are a member of family and have a shrine or other memorial built by family and friends. That’s where he stands with the ghosts of his past quietly filling them in on what’s happened. That’s how he was found standing next to the stone with the names of those he cared for inscribed on its surface. An ANBU in a crow mask walks up to him and requests that he follow. Crow leads Kakashi on a winding path through the village to wherever their destination is. Once they reach a seemingly random part of the village, Crow hands Kakashi a blindfold and asks him to put it on. After he does so he is led around above ground for a bit before they go underground. Finally Kakashi is instructed to remove the blindfold. In front of him stands an obstacle course but just visible covering the area are trip wires. There are very few routes that aren’t blocked by the wires and even those are so small they might not actually be paths. The examiner turns to him pulling out a stopwatch.   
“You have half an hour to complete this obstacle course. It must be done without chakra, falling into the water or injury”

Kakashi eyes the course again looking from the angled panels to the water below. A raised platform resides on the other side leading further into the course the platform immediately rounds a corner keeping the route hidden. Kakashi turns back to his examiner and nods. The countdown begins and Kakashi prepares to run. The countdown ends and the sprint begins.

He leaps through the gaps in the wires from panel to panel. Once he hits the platform on the other side hail of kunai begin to rain on his position. One wrong step or one moment taken to breath and he’ll hit the wire or be struck by the kunai. He dashes forward under and around the wires only to be confronted by a bar on two rails that had semicircular grooves for the bar to fit in. flinging his body forward he grabs onto the bar using his momentum to launch both it and himself forward. The kunai have slowed allowing him time to build momentum for the jumps but not much. It continues on. A chimney climb, collapsing platforms, swinging arms on narrow ledges, leaps of faith, some bouncy giant balls, and finally a wall with a rope hanging slightly in front of it. High enough to not be reachable from the ground but slightly lower than the lip of the wall.

Now usually a wall would be no issue to a ninja but here he was without chakra and assaulted by kunai (the wires were gone here for some reason) even so the wall looked easy enough to get up with some skill. It was the fact that this wall was at the end to the course that made him cautious. Speeding up his run from already fast to flat out sprint he understood why this wall was so dangerous.

The wall curved back in on itself making traction on the surface harder to come by the further up you went. It was also 20 feet(~6 meters). Kakashi was physically too small to make the jump to the top. So he did the next best thing.

Pushing off the wall over halfway up Kakashi makes a leap not for the top of the wall but the rope hanging behind him. Snagging the very end of the rope Kakashi swings out narrowly avoiding the kunai that fly where he would have been had he decided to go straight up. Kicking his legs for momentum he swings back around launching back to the top of the wall and catching the lip and hauling himself up and over.

Kakashi completes his run in 15 minutes.

* * *

■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■. ■■ ■■■ ■■■’■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■  _ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■  _ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■.

■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■. ■■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■, ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■  ~~ so it will warn Minato-sensei and he can stop him before it’s too late. ~~

■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■, ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■.

■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■. ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■  ~~ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■. I'm so sorry ~~ ■■■  _ ■■■■■■■ _ ■■■ ■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■■■ (■■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■■) ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■. ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■. ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■  ~~ ■■■■■■■-■■■ ~~ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■  ~~ ■■■ ~~ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■.

■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■  ~~ ■■■■■■ ~~ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■  ~~ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ~~ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■.

■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■. ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■’■ ■■■■■  ~~ ■■■■■■■-■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■’■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■  **■■■■■■** ~~ . He strikes.

* * *

Kakashi passes the ANBU test with flying colors, if the body language of his masked examiners is any indication, and is promptly assigned to the guard of the hokage’s wife. His mask is Hound and he wears it with pride. With this he might just be able to save those close to him, he won’t be a curse that leads to their death. Kakashi lives as a faithful shadow to Kushina listening to the whispers of a village that hates him and wants him dead and gone for good reason  ~~ he wants him dead and gone too ~~ . Often he is treated to the spectacle of Kushina shouting at some poor civilian or shinobi who is bad mouthing him with his new monikers, questioning how someone as eminently  _ good _ as the Kiiroi Senkō could produce someone so bad and heartless as him  ~~ he wonders the same thing ~~ .

Days, weeks and months pass by and every week he keeps going to the stone to pour his heart out to the ghosts there. Twice or three times a week he is forced to spend the evening with Kushina and Minato-sensei, he tries to avoid these days desperately but it never works  ~~ he doesn’t want it to work ~~ .

Time passes and while he isn’t okay  ~~ he will never be okay ~~ it isn’t as bad as it was before. The haunting nightmares don’t follow him into the day and the voice in the back of his head asking for him to just  _ stop _ dims to just a faint whisper in the breeze. Life is getting better and really that’s all he can ask for at this point.

* * *

Minato looks at the latest reports on his desk and wonders to himself if he really has done the right thing. He had gotten Kakashi out of the public eye in hopes that the civilians would calm down. After all out of sight out of mind right? Apparently that was not true and Minato had some suspicions about why that might be. But really he just hopes that Kakashi will be okay. The war is over so he shouldn’t have to worry about him being killed in the field but as an ANBU he could be given dangerous missions with a high chance of death. After all just because Minato loves Kakashi like his own son doesn’t mean he isn’t going to send one of his best shinobi where they’re needed even if it’s dangerous.

He looks through some more files and makes a note to himself to check on what Danzō is doing with ROOT at some point because the declared expenses seem more than what should sustain the amount of people that ROOT has in it. The idea gets put on the back burner for now though with the peace talks going on showing a rift in the village would be a death sentence. So he writes his suspicions down, after all Danzō kept telling him how dangerous the Uchiha were even though the clan heads wife was his wife’s best friend, and sets it aside to deal with when he doesn’t have to do fifty different things all at once.

Tobirama  looks through his speculations and decides that if his student is really doing this he needs to confirm what Minato suspects. Tobirama  isn’t pleased with what he finds later the note in Minato’s book has a list next to the suspicions of Danzō’s crimes. The list is in a very different hand.

* * *

Kushina, his charge and almost mother, was away on something highly classified. Technically Kakashi was not meant to know what was going on. Very few people were actually but he knew anyway because how could he not? Kushina was pregnant had been for a good while and to be talking about how he was going to be a big brother to her little Naru-chan (“Naruto” Minato would say if he was around, “we’re calling him Naruto” “Oh but it’s such an adorable nickname ‘Naru’”) she was probably away in a safe location giving birth. Kakashi was looking forward to having a true family again.

He should have known his luck wasn’t that good.  ~~Will it ever be? No. no it won’t he knows he should give up while he’s still ahead. If he’s dead he doesn’t have to see them die now does he?~~

It’s a lovely night stars were shining in the sky and very few clouds obstructing the view. Kakashi had not even had any nightmares when he slept but the feeling was back. It has almost been a year since Obito died and all he can see when he closes his eyes is Obito accusing him of killing Rin and ruining his promise. That he loved Rin more than life itself and  _ HOW COULD YOU KAKASHI IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT.  _ Or Rin, poor sweet Rin, staring at him as blood spills from her mouth reaching out as if to caress his face before her mouth twists and she moves further up his arm strangling him spitting curses into his face, accusing him for not trying hard enough, telling him he’s cursed and it would all be better if he just dropped instead of carrying on this pathetic existence and dragging down everyone with him. She always smiles after saying that. Bloody and cruel like an angel fallen from grace and there to tell you that you’re going to go the same way and the next line is always the same. Always the worst thing.

“We both know you don’t really care so why keep pretending? Everyone can see it.  _ Oh _ ” and it turns pitying “ _ don’t tell me that what you’re called is wrong now. Why lie to yourself it just hurts more _ ”

Every time when he dons his mask the next day and heads to his guard shift the first thing that Kusina says without fail is.

“It’s wrong ya know. We would miss you if you weren’t here and we all know that you do care, maybe too much.”

Forcibly pulling himself from his harrowing thoughts Kakashi decides to wander the village to put his mind to rest. In the dark of the night under the light of the moon and stars when everyone appears to be asleep but the village moves as shinobi hop roofs to and from the gates. It’s peaceful and all he can really ask for now.

That’s when it starts.

A roar shatters the air and the village is soaked in malice, through the windows of homes some civilians that were still up and around fall to the floor screams on their lips but no sound made. Shinobi on the roofs stumble and catch themselves or fall over the sides, the fall won’t be enough to kill and even then there is something making that malicious intent and it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible before it destroys the village.

It shouldn’t even be possible but with a second roar that seems to grind what is left of the air into dust the malice doubles down and is joined by killing intent it takes a moment for everyone to pull themselves back up. Everyone with the exception of Kakashi.

Because Kakashi has felt all this before.

The Kyūbi, Kushina’s burden, but something else as well, something closer to Kakashi in a way no person is. A spirit, a god, something old and powerful. Like what Kakashi remembers Tou-san felt like only  _ older _ . He wants to stop to ask him why he does this, what he knows of spirits, if he can help Kakashi see his father again. But in the time it takes everyone to get back on their feet and Kakashi to make it partway across the village to the old spirit a great boom sounds. The crunching of timbers echoes along with a snarl of rage. The walls have been broken down and the beast is on a rampage within the village walls. There is no time to ask questions. Kakashi is the first to jump into the fray, to delay the destruction of the beast. Tails lash out and swaths of unfortunate men are flung into the ground, roofs, or high into the air contorting like punctured beanbags. The lucky ones have their necks snapped by the force of the blow, the unlucky ones fly with broken bones and bleeding looking to the sky or ground knowing that nothing can save them anymore. Claws swipe and more go flying, a man narrowly misses hitting Kakashi but man is no longer an accurate description. The bisected screaming top half of a man drawing his last sails past him but he must continue on. Later on Kakashi appreciates how even with a busy and thriving village such as Konoha the only casualties were Shinobi who fought the beast and structural damage to buildings no longer in use. Kakashi dashes up the Kyūbi’s arm to its face after all the sharingan is known for its abilities in genjutsu and he might just be able to stop the beast.

He reaches the face and it’s not at all what he thought he would find.

In the Kyūbi’s eye is a reflection of an unknown sharingan spinningspinning _ spinning _ .

So Kakashi does the only thing he can think of.

Placing his hands on the thick fur of this goliath he pulses as much of his chakra as he can (he does not know that in doing so he pulses the energy that belongs only to spirits) in hopes of breaking the god from whoever’s control it is in.

And it works.

With a roar the beast turns storming in a direction away from the village and Kakashi relaxes. Soon he is told to go to the bunker to stay safe with the other younger villagers while the older generation try to finish the fox off. Kakashi is not given a choice; he is forced into a bunker with the others, apparently it’s on the Sandaime’s orders. Still the fox has turned away from the village and everyone is going to be safe.

Really he should know what’s going to happen by now.

* * *

It was the night of the birth Minato had taken only his most trusted people that were strictly necessary for the baby to be born with minimal complications. This meant that even if he wanted to he couldn’t take in either his guards or Kushina’s, just in case someone leaked the location and they were attacked during the pregnancy. Given that no one knew they were there except the people that were there they  _ should  _ be safe.

The room is lit by candles scattered around giving a soft glow to the bunker outside of Konoha’s walls. The location was chosen for two reasons one because if the Kyūbi broke out of the seal it would give the village some time to react and fight against the beast or even for the Kyūbi to just leave the village along and wander away into the wilderness and the second is that who would expect them to not be in the most secure location within the village.

Despite Kushina’s protests the restraints on the seal for the Kyūbi were doubled down on. Neither Minato or Kushina could win the argument with Biwako no matter the truth that the fox would not harm.

It was all going well there were no complications and little Naruto was healthy as could be. Minato went to see his son but Biwako firmly told him that the mother should be the first to hold the child. Right as Naruto was in her arms it all went wrong.

A masked man appeared in the room killing the wet nurse and Biwako with ease and demanding the jinchūriki to be handed over to him or more harm would befall them. Minato obviously refused this demand as that was his wife the man was talking about but then the man  _ moved _ racing up to Kushina and the child before snatching Kushina’s son from her arms. Minato makes to follow and reclaim the babe but the man holds a kunai to his hostages throat causing Minato to stop dead. The man demands the jinchūriki a second time in exchange for Naruto’s safety and Minato lunges. The masked man throws the child into the air and as Minato is racing to catch him before he hits the ground the masked man makes his way to Kushina. Minato catches his child only to see exploding tags covering their wrappings throwing them as fat as he can from himself and the child he looks over just in time to see the man disappear with his wife.

Looking down at his child Minato flashes to his house and tucks him into bed safely promising that both him and Kushina would be back any minute and gently ruffles his hair before flashing away to go help his wife.

* * *

■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■’■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■. ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■. ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■. T hey whispered reassurances that he wasn’t alone, that it wasn’t too late to go back, they whispered lies that what he was working towards would be the end of it all, that all he had been told it would do was only true in the barest sense and the cost for the false truth that he wants is too high a price to pay. They croon to him saying that he’s been hurt and it was never meant to happen this way. ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■. ■■■ ■■■■, ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■, ■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■. ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■, ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■, ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■.

“I know that I can’t change your path.” the voice begins “the others have been here so long that they don’t know what has truly happened to you. but know this sapling. At the end of it all when the dust settles someone will see that this isn’t you. Someone will take your hand and tell you it’s okay. A mark on your heart means no deviation from your path but it isn’t the end of the line. It’s okay to stumble, it's okay to fall as long as you get back up.” ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■’■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■  ~~ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ~~ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■. 

■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■’■ ■■■■, ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■-■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■, ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■. ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ~~■■■■■■-■■■■■■~~ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ~~■■■■■■■-■■■~~ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ _■■■■■_ ~~■■■■■■, ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■~~ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ~~■■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■, ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■~~. ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ~~■■■■■■■, ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■’■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■~~ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■.

  
■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■’■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ (■■■■■■! ■■■!) ■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■. ■■ ■■■■’■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■.  He sets it free on Konoha and goes to finish the Yondaime.

* * *

Flashing back to his wife Minato was greeted with the sight of her panting and slowly paleing as a roar sounds in the distance from the direction of Konoha. Deciding that the best course of action is to keep his wife in a safe location with their son. With his wife safe with the child in her arms he looks for the man.

He finds him in a clearing near where the bunker this all started at was in mask and cloak still obscuring his features. Reaching up the man pulls the hood down revealing short spiky hair and during the staredown looks to Minato placing cuffs linked by chains on his wrists. Through the single hole in the man’s mask a sharingan spins. The man says nothing simply rushing Minato chain trailing behind him, Minato responds in kind bringing out his kunai after all if an opponent was willing to attack in a headlong rush then you should make use of that opportunity. As they rush forward to Minato’s surprise both his kunai and himself pass through the man and his chain. Minato notes that it means the man cannot be incorporial when he attacks. Taking advantage of the possibility that the man probably thinks this has thrown him or that he dismissed the idea as impossible he throws a kunai as the man’s head and runs towards him in a frontal assault the man reacts the same as before racing towards Minato to take him down heedless of the kunai going straight for his head. And, just a Minato had thought, the projectile goes straight through the man. Gathering a rasengan to seemingly hit him from the front Minato flashes behind him slamming the spinning ball of pure energy into the man’s back a spatter is heard as it ruptures the outer layer of whatever the man is apparently made of. The man slams into the ground but after such an odd inhuman sound from injury and the ability to become intangible Minato doubts how much damage he has truly done so he immediately follows the attack up with another as the man appears in front of him seemingly unharmed. Gripping their wrist tightly and pushing them back with a stab wound to the gut the wrist explodes into goo taking the rest of the arm with it and the man retreats stating while he is intangible that one day the Kyūbi would be in his control and the world would be the true one once more. The man whispers something quietly,  _ oh so quietly _ but Minato had no idea what he had said, only that something had been.

Then the Kyūbi returned seeking the man that used it, snarling and angry but not injuring Minato. Jumping to his home and taking his wife and child back to the clearing Kushina begins to restrain Kyūbi just as others start to show. All three of them know what needs to be done, upholding the secrecy pact of the Uzumaki with the god of their spirits meant that they had to act as enemies and that meant that Minato and Kushina were almost certainly going to die. The sealing began and the beast started spitting curses. When naruto was upon the altar He lunged, snarling claw piercing through Minato and Kushina both but severing their spines, reducing the places that  _ could _ hurt. Leaning as close as he can to the couple he speaks loud enough to be heard at the other side of the clearing by the shinobi coming to rescue their Kage.

“ **Foul creatures.”** He snarled  **“The spawn will know what you have wrought upon him! He will know of my wrath and will! I will have my vengeance and there is nothing in this petty puny** **_human_ ** **world that can stop me! The deaths shall be bloody and painful when I get my hands on you!”**

Minato can see on the edge of the clearing the shinobi and the Sandaime take that to be aimed at them and their village, but Minato smiles soft and small not the usual one the world sees the one reserved for those he truly cares for, as he seals some of both his and Kuchina’s chakra into the seal on their son Minato says his final words to the goliath towering over them

“Thank you Kyūbi-sama. I hope you get along well with my son, that winds hide your scent and your hunt is successful and prosperous.” the beast had not promised to tell the boy of all the bad that had happened and to kill the village he had just destroyed, but to tell the boy of the family he would have had and to hunt down the man that killed those sworn to his protection in bloody vengeance.

* * *

There was nothing he could have done. That’s what he is told later at least but the gut wrenching guilt of feeling their deaths as it happens, as part of him dies with them in excruciating agony causing him to collapse where he stands making him narrowly avoid a collision with the roof he’s jumping to because the fox was far enough away for them to be freed.

If ANBU gave him anything in their training to be glad for it is that he keeps his form long enough to get to  ~~ the cub ~~ Naruto and take him to the hospital. He collapses into his bed at his apartment exhausted and in pain as part of him dies  _ again _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all those interested about the spirits and clans along with what’s going on with Tobirama here’s what’s up. Tobirama I’m ruling as having a different mother to Hashirama. His mother being a snow leopard spirit. So as a half spirit when he dies he just becomes a full spirit. What’s going on with Sakumo and Rin is that Sakumo can’t go back to the material plane yet so he’s hanging about in purgatory and Rin has joined him there. I do have plans for things that might happen with them but nothing’s final yet. For anyone that wants a list of what clan is what here it is along with those close enough to spirits that they might appear in a fic made in this universe.  
> Senju: tree spirits (I mean come on)  
> Tobirama and Hashirama.  
> Abrume and Inuzuka: none. they partnered with their spirits instead. Bug spirits and Inugami/dog spirits respectively  
> Hyuga: Owls  
> Nara: Deer  
> Yamanaka: Various fey  
> Akimichi: Gnomes  
> Uchiha: Nekomata (two tailed cats as far as i know they use fire)  
> Madara(He won’t be insane) and Obito mokuton is basically tree spirit stuff so forced half spirit kinda  
> Uzumaki: Kitsune(Kurama isn’t evil he’s just really grumpy)  
> Kushina(long exposure to a very powerful spirit helped here)  
> Hatake: Wolves/ōkami  
> Sakumo and Kakashi


	5. Sixth death Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time between.

One night's good rest was all Kakashi allowed himself after the awful events of that night, after that he stayed resolutely at Naruto’s side. For a while

The Hokage called him soon after. ~~Too soon~~ . He told him the worst news as well. He couldn't see the pup. He was too close to Sensei or something stupid and he couldn't SEE THE PUP! Kakashi railed against this idea and the Hokage conceded to have a hearing with his counsel so Kakashi could understand the reasons they had for this decision. Kakashi showed up to the meeting on time looking smart. But instead of listening to anything he had to say they just prattled on about how it would be a benefit to everyone involved if he _didn’t_ . He was to instead of providing a home for his pack to fade back into the shadows and keep the village that had taken again and again from him afloat. Arguments of why he could not raise the child were not varied or inventive. After all, all of them boiled down to ‘We don’t want you to’: ‘Too young’ he looked after himself since he was five, he could support a child; ‘too unstable’ if they through this then Kakashi has no idea where their heads have been while Minato was in charge. ‘Too close to Yondaime-sama’ but they aren't at war anymore and the pup won’t be leaving the safety of the village for a while yet especially if Kakashi has any say. Which he _should_ . But worst of all, worst of _all_ , was that kind understanding look they all shared. The look of pity at a child who did not know what was best for him. The only one who didn’t have this look and appeared to actually be considering the idea was one Shimura Danzō. Kakashi appreciated that Danzō asked them to look at what good it could do to give Kakashi custody of Naruto but the idea got dismissed out of hand. Later Kakashi would realise how for show only this action truly was.

The days continued as they had before night and day in an unrelenting cycle. Kakashi was out of ANBU duties for a bit until some of the reconstruction had been finished. This was all fine but before, after he had calmed down from his hysteria at the idea of not being allowed to raise Naruto, he had reasoned that it was just ‘raise or be overly close to from the get go’ there was nothing against him having small interactions with him until he could look after himself, especially if he was so young he may never remember them. He was wrong. They MEANT he couldn’t see, speak or even be _seen around_ Naruto. So Kakashi continued on helping rebuild, talking to the ghosts at the stone (Now Minato and Kushina joined their ranks) and occasionally, very occasionally competing with Gai.

It was during one of his talks to the sins of the past that Danzō approached him. As usual the graveyard was empty aside from him and his ghosts as Danzō strides up to stand next to him.

“Kakashi, I have come with an offer for you. My branch of ANBU would greatly benefit from your skills and it would not only be of help to the village to have you there but they can also help you deal with the… _unfortunate_ events that seem to have followed you through your life. It is also such a shame that Hokage-sama neglected to allow perfectly capable shinobi to battle with the Kyūbi. I could keep a much better eye on him if I knew what he was doing. I might even be able to stop a repeat of that travesty. I’ll come back in a week for your answer. Have a good day Kakashi” with that the man left leaving Kakashi to his thoughts.

A week passes in which Kakashi is left with his emotions. Kakashi decides he doesn’t like them, much less Sarutobi who took _everything_ from him, and agrees with Danzō’s offer as long as he doesn’t have to _feel_ them anymore and the Hokage can be brought to justice. Danzō smiles and tells him he made the right choice and that Danzō was proud he had judged Kakashi’s character correctly. After all apparently the ‘Institute’ would be a great fit for him.

It’s not long after, only a day, when Danzō returns to him telling Kakashi that all the paperwork is completed and he’s expected to show up for training and missions in the ROOT section of ANBU from that day onwards for the foreseeable future.

Training goes as it always has. Very well. That some of the training is the suppression of every emotion is just a minor side note ~~it isn’t, how can you love if you can’t _feel_~~. Members of his training team and mission partners switch out regularly none of them talk unless absolutely necessary and none of them _ever_ remove their masks, it’s taboo here unlike the regular corps, but here was better there were no companions no bonds no feelings just the mission and Kakashi lost himself like that for a while

One day Kakashi met Kinoe and that’s when things really started. Before now Kakashi would hear Danzō bemoan the Sandaime’s incompetence and lack of response to problems such as the rumors surrounding the Uchiha. Now though, well now Danzō came strolling into the room checking up on their progress, as he sometimes did, and walked over to Kakashi a small rueful smile on his face as he spoke.

“I see you’ve met dear Kinoe. It really is such a shame that Hiruzen didn’t allow me to send him to help contain the Kyūbi. Me has Mokuton which is meant to be able to control, if not stop, the Bijū. truly it’s such a shame that Hiruzen was so weak in the moment your sensei and his wife needed him. It might just be time for him to step down, permanently, the old fool.” Kakashi knew what this meant but from his time spying on the Hokage he has seen that he truly does care but he is old and weary. There’s no need for what Danzō is suggesting Kakashi might even object, but he can’t find it in himself to really care anymore. ~~I~~ ~~can’t feel anymore help me.~~

Time passes and Kakashi gradually breaks the cold exterior of Kinoe. He tells Hokage-sama about the assassination plot scheduled for his visit to the daimyō when he is caught breaking into the archives for information on Mokuton and agrees to play body double, he even tells the Hokage that he was one of the conspirators and the old man gets a glint in his eye at that. Then the day comes. Kakashi switches places with the Hokage for a walk and suddenly out from the trees and bushes in Hi no Kuni sprung to strike him. Unsurprisingly his assailants are disguised as various ANBU from a foregn village but what is surprising, and shouldn’t be, is that one among them is Kinoe. As Kakashi substitutes with a clone in a nearby tree the ANBU guard engages the disguised ROOT agents. The one to come after him is Kinoe he drops the henge as Kinoe shoots beams at his torso leaping down, breaking through the assault with a chidori Kakashi knocks Kinoe to the floor. Kakashi looks down at Kinoe’s form and lets him go telling him that Mokuton will one day be of great use to Konoha. Kinoe disappears into the treeline probably to report to Danzō. Kakashi returns to Konoha with his team and is fully accepted back into Konoha despite his betrayal. It doesn’t go all smoothly though. Danzō is let off the hook completely and when Kakashi questions this decision the Hokage has some choice words for him.

“Look Kakashi I’m aware of what you have done for this village but if you continue to question or disobey my orders you _will_ _be_ removed from service permanently. After all, I can’t house a traitor in my village.” with that he’s dismissed back to the ANBU bunks. But it’s not the last of his interactions with Danzō.

Soon, far too soon, it’s uncovered that Orochimaru was experimenting on children in the middle of the village. Kakashi joins to stop him leaving but he gets away. Luckily Kakashi had hidden an exploding tag inside his snake so the man is injured on his run out of the country. Kakashi pursues him to the border, chancing upon a cave in the dense forest Kakashi stops to look for Orochimaru in its depths.

As he enter the cave he is attacked by a man who can turn into smoke only for Kinoe to stop him killing Kakashi reasoning that they can interrogate him for information, even though Kinoe would have as much if not more than him, when left alone by the clan in the cave for the interrogation Kinoe reveals that his true mission is to stop Orochimaru from leaving the country so that his research can only benefit those of Konoha. The man from before, Gotta, breaks into the cell having overheard what Kinoe said but a small girl from the clan helps them escape, her name is Yukimi, she bargains with her clan pleading them to see reason. That Orochimaru whom they trust asks for children who never return. She claims Kinoe to be her lost brother Tenzō sent to Orochmaru and never seen again.

It lasts for long enough for them to escape the cave and those inside it. Yukimi soon turns into her smoke form and uses it to possess Kinoe so she can see the outside world. Kakashi, left at the cave, is again attacked by Gotta. The man, deadly as he is inside, turns into smoke to avoid a strike but instead of a wound is blown into the breeze consciousness scattering until he is no more. Just before he goes he warns Kakashi that Orochimaru’s goal is Yukimi and Kakashi leaves to track down Kinoe and Yukimi.

Kinoe refuses to give up Yukimi and a fight ensues, a game of keep away as neither want to hurt the other. As this goes on Yukimi chooses her moment and flees Kinoe’s body running back to the cave in which her people live. When the boys realise what’s happened they run to the cave only to find the clansman dead blood coating the walls and floor but smoke shows a trail through the caves. The trail must be where Orochimaru took Yukimi, the boys dash down the path hoping they aren’t too late. They almost are. As Orochimaru tries to take her blood and ability she turns to smoke the stress too much for her. They rush to her aid as she disperses into the air. The smoke of her dead clansmen thickening her own as Kinoe chases down the smoke to encase it in his wood.

They make it just in time stabilizing the girl’s ability and they part ways as she leaves to venture into the world and they return to their red tinted lives.

Very few days go by when Kakashi’s hands aren’t dyed in blood. Day in day out his nightmares haunt him hands deep in the chest of a friend, just too late to save a squad member, not loyal enough and never allowed to see his pack again. As the Missions continue he loses more and more of his soul hollowing out and adding more missions to his total as soon as he can in hopes that it will _just let him rest_ . If it stops on a mission for Konoha that’s not giving up right? _Right?!_ It continues and his only break is forced hospital stays and forced leave.

Years pass and the only thing keeping Kakashi going is the thought that the next one might kill him. He failed his father, he failed his friend, he broke the promise he made, he failed the only adults who _looked at him_ , he even failed their kid. _The pup! How could he do this_ ? ~~He should just end it himself, this is taking too long.~~

The mission he’s sent on is a simple one, one of Orochimaru’s hideouts has been found and he needs to clear it out and check if there is anything useful inside. Just before he enters Kakashi meets Kinoe at the lab.

“You’re here for Orochimaru’s lab too? How about we help each other? It'll cut down the search time as long as we share what we find.” Kakashi suggests to him. “There could be snakes and demons you never know” Kinoe adds and they enter the lab. ~~~~

As they clear each room they pick up and check every bit of paper they come across to see if it’s anything useful. Eventually they reach a room with some records and Kakashi begins to wonder

“What was Orochimaru experimenting on in here?” he looks at another file ”Probably doing what he does best. Experimenting on human test subjects…”

“Human test subjects…” Kinoe echoes freezing slightly zoning out.

“Hey Kinoe” Kakashi breaks him out of his thoughts as he opens the door “let’s get going,” they continue through the compound until they hit a door and Kakashi turns to Kinoe.

“This one’s locked”

“Leave it to me” Kinoe strides forward unlocking the door with Mokuton.

“So how’d you learn it?” Kakashi inquires.

“It’s a secret.” Is the only reply he receives. ~~~~

The search continues as Kakashi continues talking to Kinoe trying to figure him out or just have conversation is unclear.

“The Mokuton is one of the powers that can control the Kyūbi.”

“I know that the Sharingan is the other power.” Kinoe replies smoothly

”Your Mokuton isn’t just for the foundation… It is a power meant to serve all of Konoha. Lord Danzō wants to keep you at his side. But you are more suited to working directly under the Hokage.” Kakashi opens the door leaving the room “Don’t you want to leave the foundation and step out of the shadows?” Kinoe looks at where he left for a moment lost in memories before following. ~~~~

Past the door is a long corner, large iron doors are at the end but they are left wide open to the room’s contents. Kakashi enters the area first as Kinoe follows behind kunai in hand. At the end of the room is a giant tube with frost coating the outside. Wiping at the frost to hopefully see inside Kakashi catches a glimpse of Kinoe jumping at him, kunai coming to bear. Leaping sideways Kakashi doesn’t quite dodge, gaining a superficial cut along his upper arm and drawing his katana to deflect a barrage of thrown projectiles.

“What’s going on Kinoe?” He gets no answer as Kinoe draws his own blade and closes the distance between while blades are locked Kakashi dodges backwards on the defensive to the centre of the room to avoid being cut. During the motion Kinoe uses his sword's momentum to disarm him throwing the weapon into one of the walls. Kakashi immediately jumps back, increasing the distance but getting thrown into a wall by a wood pillar bursting from the ground. Kakashi uncovers his eye while he still has space to do so and Kinoe immediately blocks line of sight with an arm and heads for cover so he can utilize Mokuton more effectively. Kakashi patches his arm behind a pillar and thinks. Kinoe knew how to counter his sharingan and had intel on where he would be. His mission was to kill him and take his eye, he decides.

“Kinoe!” he shouts from the pillar “If you’re serious about killing me, then I won’t hold back! It will be a deathmatch, friend against friend!”

“I’m serious.” A cold controlled reply. ~~~~

Logs burst from behind the pillar trapping Kakashi to it, arms by his sides. Even as he struggles he can’t break out.

“I’m dead serious.” Kinoe announces as he raises his katana for a finishing blow. It lands and Kakashi slams back from the impact coughing only for shuriken to embed themselves in Kinoe’s arm guards and that Kakashi to vanish in a puff of smoke. Kakashi appears behind Kinoe kunai poised at the neck.

“Why do you want to kill me?”

“It’s my mission.”

“What kind of mission sends a friend after a friend?!”

“You’re one to talk.” Kakashi’s eyes widen just as Kinoe is revealed to be a wood clone.” You’re the one who killed a friend.'' The clone falls to the ground and Kinoe descends from above Kakashi barely blocking his strike and they both jump to a more open location.

“A Mokuton clone. You’ve gotten better since we last met.”

“Yes. So don’t hold back, Kakashi.”

“I won’t kill a friend!”

“No need to hold back!”Kinoe yells at him. As Kinoe continues to attack Kakashi only blocks and dodges.  
“Stop, Kinoe! Abandon this mission!”

“A shinobi’s mission is absolute!” it’s not a loud declaration but it is fierce. Like it isn’t just Kakashi he’s trying to convince.

“Kinoe.'' It's quiet and concerned but before anything can happen Kakashi is slammed back into the tank, luckily not breaking the glass, by a wood beam from Kinoe’s hand throwing a kunai at Kinoe’s leg as he sails backwards. The kunai hits but barely penetrates. Kakashi’s throw was far weaker than it should have been. 

“A mission is not absolute!” Kakashi shouts to him as he scans his surroundings “If your orders are to kill a friend… That order is wrong! The one who gave you such an order is wrong.”

Kinoe bursts from behind a nearby pillar kunai free from leg and resumes his assault.

“I will fulfil my mission!” with a soft ‘why you’ Kakashi begins to fight back kicking Kinoe in the stomach and sending him backwards mid lunge. Kakashi follows up with shuriken, all of which are deflected but they pierce the glass cracking and causing chips.

“To hell with your mission!” Kakashi yells as he closes distance deflecting projectiles ”Killing a friend is not a mission!”

“Then why did you kill her?!” Kakashi’s eyes widen just before he has to block a strike

“What?!”

“Why did you Kill Nohara Rin?!” Kakashi freezes eyes wide as the scene of her death flashes in his mind, dyed in red. He only notices Kinoe’s spiked beams after they wit him pushing him into the air as Kinoe keeps asking “Why did you kill her?” more and more fervently. The bot has long stopped thinking about Nohara in this question.

“You killed her because it was your mission!” He claims bringing walls to trap Kakashi in a dome. The dome doesn’t last long as Kakashi, Chidori in hand, severs the top half wood chips flying everywhere.

“Don’t speak about Rin!” He yells “As part of my ANBU missions I’ve had to deal with Nuke-nin and traitors to Konoha. So I can’t help it if I’m called Friend-Killer Kakashi…” Kinoe loosens from his stance slightly, he’s listening. “But…” and at this Kakashi starts running forwards “Rin was…” quickly forming hand signs Kinoe begins to retaliate

“Why you…!”

Kakashi leaps, slicing through the row of spikes in front of him.

“I didn’t want to kill her!” he yells bringing his Chidori to bear crashing down on Kinoe slamming him to the floor and holding him there jutsu still held ready to be used at any time.

“I couldn’t protect my friend. That’s why Rin died...” ~~and it’s all my fault yes it is yes it is.~~ ”from this Chidori…”

“Couldn’t protect her…?”Kinoe whispers to himself “couldn’t protect her… are you going to kill me?”

“Are you a friend of Konoha? Or a traitor?” Kakashi asks

“I’m not a traitor.”

“Then what are you?”

“I am... Kinoe of the Foundation”

“Then Kinoe… renounce your duty to the Foundation.” Kinoe looks away

“I cannot.” he doesn’t sound defeated but something’s there

“Then I’ll take you into custody and turn you over to Hokage-sama”

“Do whatever... You please” the tone still lingers. Above them the form of a snake peers out of the glass tube gas leaking from the small hole the shuriken made in its exterior.

As he said he would Kakashi binds Kinoe’s hands and begins to lead him from the room they pass many more tubes, smaller than the giant one at the end, these somehow unharmed and empty. A few feet from the entrance a great crash sounds. Somewhere in the room glass has shattered. Kakashi blocks Kinoe’s path towards the source of the sound telling him to wait for him there and he ventures to its source. The sound came from the giant tube that had had a shuriken embedded in its surface. Pausing Kakashi looks around for any sign of what could have escaped. Before his search can get too fat however he is interrupted by a scream. Kinoe’s scream. Turning sharply to where he left him, Kinoe is covered in snakes. Even though the snakes lunge at him they can’t bite through his ANBU armour but the armour doesn’t cover all of him and the snakes are going to catch him at some point. Rushing back Kakashi tries to create a Chidori but comes up short instead he pulls a kunai and wards the snakes off. Before they can do anything another wave of snakes rushes them and as they try to run from the room. Kakashi makes a leap, his companion following close behind. Only one of them makes it. A giant snake with a humanoid face made of smaller snakes lunges at them during the jump swallowing Kinoe and retreating into the room, the smaller snakes that were attacking the duo before return to the main body. Kakashi turns gritting his teeth behind his mask. Kinoe may have just tried to kill him but he is still of Konoha, he’s still a comrade and teammate, and Kakashi swore to never let another die again if he could do anything about it.

Gathering his resolve and forming a Chidori through sheer determination Kakashi dashes back to the beast bisecting it and freeing Kinoe. There’s only one issue with this and it’s a big one. The snake begins dissolving into poisonous gas, it coats the area thickly and Kakashi’s mask can’t filter it out. Kakash pushes Kinoe from the snake’s quickly decaying corpse cutting his restraints.

“Get out, quick, the gas is poisonous” is all he gets before his vision goes black.

When he comes back he’s sitting outside the room Kinoe nowhere to be seen but his eye is still there. Fuck, his eye is still there. Kinoe’s going to be killed for this unless he does something now.

Kakashi makes for Konoha and the Hokage at full speed breaking through the treeline in full pelt. He makes it to the Hokage tower and reports to Sarutobi-Sama.

“Hokage-sama. During my mission I was attacked by a ROOT shinobi who refused to carry out their mission saving me and leaving me in a safe position. I have reason to believe that they will be killed for this action.”

Hiruzen sighs looking disappointed at Kakashi “I have no say in how Danzō treats his ROOT agents you should know this by now Kakashi-kun.”

Kakashi doesn’t understand. The man has tried to have him murdered once already and he’s still trying to protect him. “Hokage-sama with all due respect I would like to ask for the transfer of Kinoe of ROOT to the regular ANBU corps as a member of my team”

Sarutobi hums at that looking contemplative. “Granted. You may go to the institute to inform your new team member of their position. But remember Kakashi this is a favour for you. Your punishment for breaking _any_ of my rules will be very harsh.” They both know what rule he is talking about.

Kakashi dashes at a reasonable speed to the institute to inform Kinoe. At the entrance he’s denied entrance by the guards who tell him that even if his message is for Kinoe only he can just tell them and they’ll pass it on, that the area is restricted, they sounded like broken records. ~~Kakashi sounds like that too doesn’t he?~~

Kinoe rounds the corner on the other side of the walkway at a run, chafe marks on his wrists from him clearly having been restrained. Kunai fly at vital points on the boy's body and Kakashi leaps to defend. Danzō rounds the corner telling the other ROOT shinobi to kill them both but just as they are about to be overwhelmed the Hokage arrives. Danzō informs Sarutobi that Kakashi is to be executed for trespassing and therefore he must be a traitor and that Kinoe helped him and so must be colluding. Hokage-sama calms his long time friend and teammate telling him that Kakashi was there on his orders to tell Kinoe of this transfer to the ANBU under the Hokage’s direct command. Kinoe had been given a promotion. Danzō scowls but doesn’t say anything more. They leave and the days continue.

If every so often the newly named Tenzō has to stop his captain from not dodging non-fatal injuries and snapping him out of blank stares and the repeated lines of “I should have joined them.” “I can’t be there for him. Why won’t he let me be there for him.” No one has to know why Kakashi sometimes seems more stable,human. He’s not there to stop him all the time though and hospital stays are still far too common for him.

It lasts for a few years before even Tenzō’s efforts start to stop working. They don’t know why or how but their most recent recrute Weazel, Uchiha Itachi, killed his entire clan leaving his brother alive and traumatising him even more than he was already with a genjutsu. None of them saw it coming and the rumours going around are not surprised that Itachi did it.

_“After all they say that his captain has the Friend Killer”_

_“Really we shouldn’t have expected anything else should we?”_

_“How could they have let that man lead of course this happened with someone he was in charge of.”_

Tenzō and team Ro found their captain almost constantly injured and some of them weren’t from missions. The explanation was always either classified or training while they knew this to be true it still worried the team. Gai was trying but he couldn’t do much for his eternal rival now.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi enters the Hokage’s office after receiving his summons and salutes to the man behind the desk.

“Hokage-sama.”

"Ah, Kakashi-kun good to see you. Do you know why I called you here today?"

"No Hokage-sama, I don't know why you wanted to see me. I’ve kept to the rules that I have been given and my mission record is good as far as I know."

"Yes it is and I congratulate you on that Kakashi-kun but you are right I did not call you here to discuss those things. Kakashi I am removing you from the ANBU corps and placing you into the pool for jōnin senseis."

The room is silent as Kakashi doesn't freeze but instead becomes purposely loose, ready to attack or defend at the drop of a hat.

“And if I refuse?” he says tone mild

“I’m afraid you aren’t allowed to refuse this, it is an order.”

“You can’t be serious. There’s no way I’m going to be good for any child you give to me, plus I’m one of the best you can’t just remove me.”

“I can and I have. Don’t worry Kakashi-kun I’m sure this will be good for you too. After all if our best trains others it seems only fair that they will become great as well.” Sarutobi sits behind his desk ever reasonable and grandfatherly ignoring the plea in the man’s voice there was nothing left for Kakashi to do. No arguments that the man could make that would be taken account of and not be dismissed out of hand, so he left and hoped that no team would pass his test. He lent really heavily into the persona of a perpetually late man who cares for no one and nothing.

And for a while, it worked.

Come in late, break all the students' expectations of what a ‘good’ ninja acts like, freak them out, split them up and pit them against each other. None of them thought past that their ‘sensei’ had told them so it must be true. Not looking to the three man cells that genin are always in no matter what. It doesn’t last too long though, of course not, it ends when he is again brought into the Hokage’s office for another meeting with the man. He didn’t expect the topic but in hindsight he really should have. Already inside the room, even though he should have been late, was Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kuranai and a few other jōnin.

“I’ve gathered you here today again for your team assignments this year.” the Old hokage began. In all honesty Kakashi zoned out of what he was saying pretty fast it was the same spiel every year about fair chances, best of potential ect. Ect. he tuned back in only when the old man got to his name. “Hatake Kakashi shall be in charge of Team 7 consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto.”

Wait. What? Why would they trust him with the jinchūriki? The Uchiha is almost understandable if he wasn’t such an emotional wreck and definitely  _ not  _ what the boy needs, but the jinchūriki?  ~~ How could he stop him from seeing the cub only to show him his own mistakes? ~~ He vaguely heard the others' assignments; Yuhi Kurenai to Team 8 and Sarutobi to Team 10 but he was too caught up to really focus on that. Before he knew it the Hokage was dismissing the other jōnin and asking him to stay behind for what were claimed to be ‘unrelated reasons’ and this bit, oh this bit, Kakashi has a terrible feeling about this conversation.

“Now Kakashi-kun, I’m sure you can guess what I am going to tell you here but I want to make it very clear anyway.” The Hokage looked stern and immovable in his chair, fingers steepled in front of his face and that face impassive. If he had any less composure Kakashi would probably be shaking. Scratch that if Kakashi cared about his own life anymore he should be shaking. But he isn’t, so he stands there awaiting the next sentence that they both know is coming. “Hatake-san you are hereby  _ ordered _ to pass this team. We cannot show that the only loyal Uchiha is a slow learner or no field ready. The same applies with the Kyūbi jinchūrik; they cannot be seen as weak or, by extension, Konoha to seem weak. Am I understood?” it wasn’t so much a question as a demand for him to understand either way the answer was obvious.

“Yes Hokage-sama.” With a salute Kakashi flees to the memorial stone. How is he going to face the children  ~~ when he failed two of them so badly ~~ when as far as he can tell from their files the team is bound to tear at the seams the minute it’s formed  ~~ just like his should have but somehow they stayed together ~~ . Things to think on, actions to plan. First he’ll stick with his tried and true method of being deliberately obtuse and slippery. Let them look underneath the underneath to find the information they want, it will be there just not in plain sight (mostly). Mind made up and plan set Kakashi retires back to his apartment for some preparations for the next week. Never hurts to be too prepared after all.

The week passes by much faster than Kakashi thinks weeks should and all too soon he is three hours late to the classroom that he’s meeting his ,soon to be, minions.

As he walks down the corridor to the classroom he can see that the door is slightly open jammed with what appears to be the chalk duster. He’ll give them points for actually setting a trap but not many for how poorly it was executed. Opening the door Kakashi lets the duster bounce off his head with an air of slight surprise, taking the moment to observe how the team will react to it. Naruto is pointing and laughing so the whole thing was probably his idea (not surprising given who his mother was  ~~no don’t think about that~~ ); Sasuke scoffed and turned away obviously not impressed by his display (the kid mutters about how useless and weak the jōnin of the village must be to get caught by that) and finally Sakura she is alternating between hitting Naruto and apologizing for what he’s done. Fantastic. So of course the first thing that he says to the reincarnation of his old team is

“First impressions. I hate all of you.” well that’s a lie he hates what they remind him of but he’s not exactly allowed to fail them. “Meet me on the roof in five minutes.” and with that he shunshins out and waits to see what they’ll do. Unsurprisingly they start arguing. Immediately. They’ll need to get past that and work together if they want to  ~~ not die like the rest ~~ actually succeed as shinobi. All that’s left is introductions, scaring them and the test that they aren’t actually allowed to fail. Kakashi settles down to wait on the roof. It takes the kids more than five minutes to get there but that was almost expected really. It’ll be telling how they treat each other at this stage. It’s definitely not looking good though.  


“It’s time for introductions kiddies!” His voice is so cheerful and forced it’s almost a surprise he hasn’t broken something doing this yet. He doubts the eye smile helps the image at all. The tiny Uchiha looks ready to skin him and the small pink one looks ready to send the resident blond into a coma. Someone's going to break in this team and it’s only a matter of when and how.

Who thought he should be in charge of this again? He can’t do this the best he can hope for is avoidance so he doesn’t speed along the process any, or even break along with the kids.

“You should introduce yourself first to give us an example sensei.” The pink one says. It’s not a bad idea he can get them to look underneath the underneath and it shows promise that she is as smart as her file claims.

“Well okay!” A little clap accentuates the cheer. “My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like some things, dislike others and hobbies? I have a few and I don’t have a dream.” They all give him looks at that. He had his book out when they came up that should be enough information to come to some conclusion on what he likes.

“You first.” He gestures to Naruto who’s fiddling with his new hitai-ate, upon closer inspection there’s scratches and small dents in it that must mean it has something to do with what happened to the traitor, the boy continues to toy with the headwear even as he answers.

“The name’s Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo! I like cup ramen, I dislike waiting for it to heat up, my hobbies are playing pranks and eating ramen and my dream is to become Hokage dattebayo!” Kakashi nods at him  ~~ it’s such a Kushina answer ~~ before gesturing for Sakura to go next. By the end of it Kakashi knows the personalities and interactions of the three.  


He has Naruto the  ~~ Obito ~~ trickster and attention seeker; he has Sakura  ~~ Rin ~~ who has a crush on their third team member and little to no tolerance for the first but has such great chakra control that she is almost certainly going to become the medic and lastly they have Sasuke  ~~ Himself ~~ the most talented child in the group, nowhere near where he was at that age but just as broken. Telling them about the test the next day went over as well as he thought it would. That is, with outrage and indignation. He disappears in a messy shunshin, he could do little to no smoke he’s not going to though, and watches as the team splinters at the seams as soon as he’s no longer in sight.  


The next day comes far sooner than he would like but also nowhere near soon enough. He barely slept that night, when he closed his eyes all he could see was the blood and death that followed him everywhere he went. Sometimes when he closed them the one laying in a pool of their own blood would be Naruto with his parents screaming above the corpse of the child that this is his fault and he should have left the child alone. Other times he stood to watch as Itachi finished what he started for some reason apologising the entire time but never to him, always his victim. The worst one though well this was the worst one.

Rin hole in chest and bloody stands next to him looking on to the fight. The genin are fighting a faceless shinobi but they weren’t winning or even doing anything that could damage the being. It is obvious to him watching that the faceless creature is toying with them as Rin stands by his side and they do nothing to help. When he tries to move forward she begins to speak.

“It’s me or them Kashi-kun. Are you going to abandon me  _ again? _ ” He pauses as a sickening crack echoes over the space one of the kids dent flying by a blow. “You know that even if you managed to get over there you couldn’t do anything right?” She gives a vicious laugh that just under the malice is so hollow it rings like a bell. “After all as ‘Friend-killer Kakashi’ it’s clear that anyone close to you is going to meet the same fate isn’t it? I must say I would be impressed with your survivability if you weren’t just killing others in your stead. ‘Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash’? Hah! You spout those words so often people would think you live by them! But you don’t do you? Never the one to die, it’s always another why lie to yourself you killed them.”

Kakashi rooted to the spot only vaguely hears the wet squelch behind him and numbly turns around as Rin points behind him.

“Just like you killed these kids. Once a failure always a failure, I guess it must  _ run in the family. _ ”

His hands are covered in blood. He can’t breath. There’s too much air, there’s not enough. He falls.

Kakashi jerks awake in his bed again that night. He’s not going to be able to sleep at all is he  ~~ he doesn’t deserve to either ~~ so he just makes himself some coffee and settles down to read the night away. Maybe some trashy romance can distract his demons. It didn’t but he can pretend it did.  


The Dawn of the next day finds Kakashi standing vigil at the memorial stone wondering if his soon to be team took his advice of not eating anything even though they should have eaten something. Sighing he turns from the stone to reach the clearing in time for when he told them to meet. It’s time to see what they do when unsupervised during training time.

The answer is they do nothing but argue and fight. Kakashi wishes he thought something else would happen but he really isn’t surprised by the outcome. He still has a reputation to uphold so he sits reading in the tree for his usual three hours. In the meantime he finds out that none of them had anything to eat and none ever thought to look for him. It’s a shame really but they do sleep so there’s that.

He appears in the clearing to shouts of anger as he sets down his timer and pulls out the bells to explain the test.

“This is somewhat of a Team 7 tradition. This is the bell test you have until noon to get one of these bells. Anyone without a bell will be sent back to the academy and won’t get any lunch.” He clasps the bells onto his belt before giving them one last piece of advice and beginning the test. “If you want to get a bell you’re going to have to come at me like you mean to kill. Ready? Start.” 

Immediately the kids scatter Sakura and Sasuke going into the trees and Naruto charging him from the front. Naruto is simple to take down even when Kakashi pulls out his book to begin reading. The child is sent flying into the river by his one thousand years of death technique and he catches shuriken thrown by the self proclaimed avenger. Sakura is in the trees somewhere not helping either teammate as Naruto hauls himself up out of the river along with multiple shadow clones. The clones are easy enough to defend against as they have the same skill level as their creator but one ‘gets’ behind him and ‘immobilizes’ him as the boy jumps to punch him he substitutes with one of the surrounding copies. He substituted with what appears to be the real Naruto if commotion he left behind is anything to go by but it ‘s onwards to the next victim.

Sakura is very close by and stopped with a genjutsu of a heavily injured Sasuke. He catches Naruto with a trap baited by a bell and leaves him hanging by his feet to deal with the last member of the team.

Sasuke puts up more of a fight than the other two combined. At the start he uses hit and run tactics before he gets bored and confronts him directly. As the only one to use weapons in this exercise he is already more dangerous but he tries to play it smart keeping his distance. After all Kakashi hasn’t used any ranged attacks yet, it’s not going to help him though. As Sasuke starts hand seals Kakashi is taken by surprise, as a genin Sasuke shouldn’t know any jutsu like that yet. Using the cover of his fireball Sasuke makes a dash for the bells but his fingers only barely brush one before Kakashi skids backwards to create space. As Sasuke goes to throw yet more weapons he looks up to find the jōnin nowhere in sight. Looking around yields no results as Kakashi tells him his location in a moment of good grace before dragging him down into the earth. He checks back with Naruto to find him sitting on the memorial stone preparing to eat the bentos he had brought for their lunch. He really isn’t in the mood to deal with this. A night of no sleep and nightmare will do that he thinks wryly. He calls the game to an end and thinks back on their performance.

They never tried to regroup, all of them took a turn trying to beat him. Not once do they work together Sasuke and Naruto even going so far as to abandon the rest to gain some form of personal advantage whether that be eating the food or not caring if their attacks connect with their teammates instead of him. Sakura is the only one who even tries to help a team member but she ignores the one in front of her in favour of trying to find and help her crush. The team would categorically fail if he was allowed to fail them. Instead he holds to the no food rule choosing Naruto for his desertion and tying him to a training post so he has no access to food.

After this is done he repeats the rules.

“No feeding Naruto if you want a second chance at getting the bells. You feed him and you are immediately disqualified. On the other hand none of you will be going back to the academy.” Their eyes light up with hope at that last part. “You should just stop trying to be shinobi instead.”

Surprisingly enough the others actually share their food with him passing the test anyway. He appears casting a genjutsu for the weather to seem to turn stormy and imposing shouting at them for disobeying orders, expression thunderous as Sasuke and Sakura take defensive positions. Sasuke charges him and as he incapacites him his expression clears up telling them of the importance of teamwork and the rule he took too long to learn ‘those who break the rules are trash. But those who abandon a comrade are worse than trash’. He lets Sasuke up and tells the kids that they passed the test before turning to the stone. Kakashi tells them of the sacrifice given by his friends and dismisses them for the day.

As the days pass in training and D-ranks his little minions slowly get better it looks like there might be a chance yet.

Kakashi dares to let himself hope that this time it’ll be different.  ~~ Will it though? Do you really think it will? ~~


End file.
